1. Technical Field
This invention relates in general to digital image processing, and in particular to a system for changing the resolution of a digital imager.
2. Related Art
Advances in digital cameras and digital image capture devices have led to cameras with the capacity to take pictures with incredibly fine resolutions. Often times, however, the camera's available resolution far exceeds what is needed for a particular purpose. For example, when no image is being recorded, a camera's viewfinder does not need to display the image at its full resolution. In such a case, capturing the image at full-resolution, only to reduce it to a lower, resolution for the viewfinder, consumes excessive power. An alternative solution, known as decimation (e.g., reading the charges only of alternating photocells), is also unsatisfactory, because it reduces the total amount of light captured by the imager.
High resolution digital image capturers can have other disadvantages. The higher an imager's resolution (i.e., the more photocells), the less light is directed to each particular photocell in the camera's photocell array. Therefore, either the photocells must be more sensitive in a high-resolution imager than in a low-resolution imager, or more light must be focused onto the imager using a longer frame rate or a wider aperture.